Announcement

River Rugby Teaches Local Phys-ed Classes

Schuylkill River has continued our mission to grow the game of rugby in Philadelphia by teaching phys-ed classes at Smedley Elementary over the past two Wednesdays. Club President Dave Codell and Club Vice-President Carlo Sena teamed up to provide the sessions and give the 4th and 6th graders an opportunity to enjoy the greatest sport on earth.

With help from enthusiastic teacher Ray Simpson, a former football star who played collegiately at Syracuse, the kids stayed focused, learned some core skills, and were able to improve dramatically over the course of two weeks. The first week was focused mainly on passing form and refraining from throwing the ball forward. Once the kids understood they had to stay behind the ball carrier they were able to spend more time playing competitive games of flag rugby in week 2.

Mr. Simpson reached out to us after hearing about the Summer camp that we participated in at the Northeast Frankford Boys and Girls Club. A lot of the Smedley students spend their after school hours there and it was helpful that each of the classes had several students who were familiar with rugby so that they could help teach the newcomers.

It’s extremely rewarding to teach someone rugby and then watch them show someone else the ropes so it was great to see then enthusiasm with which the Boys and Girls Club kids helped teach the game to their Smedley classmates. Schuylkill is proud of the role we have played in helping to develop Philadelphia rugby and we are in preliminary discussions to bring an after school program to Smedley in the spring.